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Best Known For: Dating Jennifer Lopez. Also for shooting to fame with best pal Matt Damon by writing and starring in Good Will Hunting.

Early Life: The actor was born and raised in California.

He became interested in acting at a young age and his first real job was in a Burger King commercial.

After the ad aired he landed roles in US mini-series The Voyage Of The Mimi and in several TV movies.

Ben met Matt Damon when he was eight and the pair quickly became good friends – they later attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School together, although as Matt is two years older they were in different classes.

Ben later studied Middle Eastern studies in college but reportedly quit after a year.

He continued to land showy roles in his teens and early 20s, in films such as School Ties and Dazed And Confused, which became a cult hit.

Career High: Winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting – fed up of waiting for fame and success to find them, Ben and Matt wrote it together, propelling themselves to stardom overnight.

Love Life: The actor dated Gwyneth Paltrow from 1998 to 1999 then in 2002 started his enormously high-profile romance of Jennifer Lopez – the loved-up couple were dubbed ‘Bennifer’ by the press.

The actor then fell for his Daredevil co-star, Jennifer Garner, who he married last year. The couple have a baby daughter, Violet.

Don’t Mention: Gigli. The movie, which starred Ben and J-Lo, was a total flop. It reportedly lost a huge amount of money and was slated by both fans and critics.

Words of Wisdom: “When I look up at the screen and see myself I always have to laugh. Not because I think I’m doing a horrible job, quite the contrary, I just feel it’s so surreal to feel like one person can entertain so many at one time.”